"John G. Hemry - Lady Be Good" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hemry John G)

to get sailors to sign on to a ship in Lady's shape that recruiting just enough to meet minimum standards
was a big enough challenge.

Kanidu eyed me in a disinterested way as I assigned her to engineering and pointed her toward Chief
Engineer Vox at one of the tables. Vox just nodded silently when Kanidu reported to her.

Jungo was a tall, slim guy with an eager smile who'd been happy to sign on. I wondered what he was
hiding and who or what he was running from. I gave him to the cargo section.

Last came Siri. She was a small woman, thin and shivering slightly, carrying every indication of being a
star dust addict. No wonder no other ship had taken her on. She'd go cold turkey for certain on our
voyage, which wouldn't be pretty, but the worst that could happen was she'd die and then we wouldn't
have to pay her. I gave her to ship's systems, because she'd been certified a System Tech Second Rate
at one point. Maybe her dust-addled brain still remembered some of that.
I stopped next to the Chief Engineer. "We okay to go?"

Vox nodded wordlessly again.

"Anything I need to tell the Captain?"

Vox dug something out from between her teeth before answering. "Refit."

"I know we need a refit. As soon as I can--"

"Shipyard."

I stopped talking and just nodded back. The Lady needed a full engineering refit in a shipyard, nothing
less. The Chief Engineer had a responsibility to remind me of that. I couldn't do a thing about it, but I had
to be reminded of it.

I went forward, trying to figure out where I might be able to get the Lady's engines looked at for
something less than cut-rate prices. Maybe an under-used maintenance facility at a middle-of-nowhere
star would be willing to give us a break for the sake of keeping their hands in. It was worth a try.

Captain Jane Weskind sat in her still-darkened cabin. She'd gotten dressed by herself but didn't look
good this morning. "We're cleared to leave," I reported, standing in front of her desk and touching my
brow with my right hand.

A long moment passed. Weskind's face cycled through a half-dozen emotions before she caught it and
froze it in a shaky grin. "No problems?" It was what she always said, now.

There wasn't a thing she could do about engineering and she'd already been told we were overdue for a
yard period. "No problems."

"Good work, First Officer Kilcannon." She lowered her voice, as if sharing a secret. "The Lady needs
work. I know it." A long pause. "A good profit on this run. That's all we need. One good run." Another
pause. "Right, Kilcannon?"

"Right, Captain." She always said that, too. Just one good run. That wouldn't be enough, of course, but
with the profit from one good run we could set up an even better run and then we'd be on our way up